Perth, Sep 11, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN) (OTCMKTS:CVONF) had made what is potentially the largest and most significant oil discovery in Australia in the past 30 years with the Phoenix South-1 well in Western Australia's North West Shelf.

Speaking at the RIU Good Oil Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia, Chief Operating Officer Philip Huizenga said the company was originally targeting gas and the oil discovery at Phoenix South-1 well came as a pleasant surprise to Carnarvon.

Even more pleasant was the news that the quality of the oil at Phoenix South A? 1 well is exceptionally good and is likely to attract premium prices at market if it can be commercialised.

The oil producer anticipates it will have a clear understanding of the size of the discovery at Phoenix South-1 well within the next 3 months, as its scientists conduct testing to determine the recoverability of the oil, but that's not the only thing on Carnarvon's horizon.

The company was recently awarded new exploration permits in the Carnarvon Basin and holds a 20% interest in producing onshore assets in Thailand which has recently increased in production levels.

"It's an exciting time for Carnarvon Petroleum; the company is in a really good position right now," he said.

"We've only just picked up the blocks in the Carnarvon Basin and we've picked them up with very low commitment.

It's a very large area and very underexplored but has shallow targets, so we think there's a great opportunity for someone to come in and help us unlock these assets."

Mr Huizenga went on to say that the company's Thailand interests had increased production from 1,500 barrels of oil per day to the currently generated 4,000 barrels of oil per day and that the revenue generated from these assets could be used to help fund Carnarvon's future exploration commitments.

"We're always looking for new acreage to pick up and we've got this great foundation of cash in the bank and then production from our onshore Thailand assets. So it's really put us in good stead for the next six to twelve months."

Carnarvon has an extensive acreage position in the North West Shelf of Western Australia, with equity positions in 12 blocks covering a total area of 36,000 km2 at varying interest levels. Carnarvon has discovered oil, gas and condensate at the Roc and Phoenix South structures and is working with partner Quadrant Energy on bring those to commercialisation.